Ibert: Escales

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Recorded in 1956 (Debussy, Ibert) and 1959 (Saint-Saëns), these jewels from stereo's golden age, all Munch specialities, receive their finest transfers yet. Close use of the microphone suits Munch's La Mer, a seascape illuminated in primary colors rather than conventional pastels. Ibert's colorful Escales ("Ports of Call") gets an intense, bracing reading, and so does the Saint-Saëns. Recorded balance in the latter's third movement, though, is distorted and fuzzy during loud tuttis when the organ and orchestra kick in simultaneously. And one might desire more contrasted dynamics and articulation in the finale's fugal build-up. But don't let tiny blemishes like these deter you from buying this lovable disc. --Jed Distler

Amazon.com
This is another of Charles Munch's blazing collaborations with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the French repertory, and a fine example of how this conductor could take a warhorse and turn it back into a serious piece of music--serious but not dull. The opening Allegro is impassioned, the Adagio is intensely poetic and expressive, and the finale generates real edge-of-the-seat excitement. The "Living Stereo" remastering has restored the lifelike presence of the original recording and... read more

Saint-Saëns: Symphony No.3/Debussy: La Mer/Ibert: Escales

Tracks:

Symphony No. 3 In C Minor, Op. 78: Adagio; Allegro moderato
Symphony No. 3 In C Minor, Op. 78: Poco adagio
Symphony No. 3 In C Minor, Op. 78: Allegro moderato; Presto
Symphony No. 3 In C Minor, Op. 78: Maestoso; Allegro
La Mer: De l'aube a midi sur la mer
La Mer: Jeux de vagues
La Mer: Dialogue du vent et de la mer
Escales (Ports Of Call): Rome-Palermo. Calme
Escales (Ports Of Call): Tunis-Nefta. Modere tres rythme
Escales (Ports Of Call): Valencia. Anime

Amazon.com

Recorded in 1956 (Debussy, Ibert) and 1959 (Saint-Saëns), these jewels from stereo's golden age, all Munch specialities, receive their finest transfers yet. Close use of the microphone suits Munch's La Mer, a seascape illuminated in primary colors rather than conventional pastels. Ibert's colorful Escales ("Ports of Call") gets an intense, bracing reading, and so does the Saint-Saëns. Recorded balance in the latter's third movement, though, is distorted and fuzzy during loud tuttis when the organ and orchestra kick in simultaneously. And one might desire more contrasted dynamics and articulation in the finale's fugal build-up. But don't let tiny blemishes like these deter you from buying this lovable disc. --Jed Distler

Amazon.com

This is another of Charles Munch's blazing collaborations with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the French repertory, and a fine example of how this conductor could take a warhorse and turn it back into a serious piece of music--serious but not dull. The opening Allegro is impassioned, the Adagio is intensely poetic and expressive, and the finale generates real edge-of-the-seat excitement. The "Living Stereo" remastering has restored the lifelike presence of the original recording and minimized the effects of tape saturation in the loudest passages. The glorious tone of the orchestra comes through loud and clear, along with a thrilling sense of Symphony Hall ambience. Debussy's La Mer and Ibert's Escales... make a generous coupling and are every bit as impressively performed. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

Saint-Saens 3rd Symphony - Munch, Boston Symphony.......2007-07-14

The Munch recording of Saint-Saens Third is the best of any. I bought the vinyl in 1966 shortly after it was released and was glad to see it re-released on CD. The sound quality is some of RCA''s best, and the BSO has never sounded better. This is an unrestrained, no-holds barred performance--fast paced just like I would think the composer would have preferred it. As a bonus, you get a fine performance of La Mer.

Hal Denton
Cookeville, TN

Much much too fast... especially the final movement........2007-04-21

I won't elaborate more than to say this recording of the Organ Symphony, purchased because of the glowing reviews of others, was a disappointment. It was simply MUCH MUCH TOO FAST, in particular the final movement but from the very start it was played too fast! And almost staccato! I found this most distracting throughout.

Probably the main reason I was so disappointed was that I own Paul Paray's Detroit Symphony Orchestra version (recorded in 1957, Mercury Living Presence), originally on vinyl and now on CD, and I've been listening to this performance since 1963. I've gotten used to listening to it every Friday afternoon (just as I did when I was in college).

I probably was hoping to hear a duplicate rendition from Munch, especially from the organ. Unfortunately it is not anything like it. Quite a different emotion all around.

So if you're looking for THE absolute most electric, emotional, thrilling and wonderful sounding presentation, buy the Paray Detroit Symphony recording, and don't waste any money on this one. Marcel Dupre (organist with Paray) is stupendous! He makes the organ come alive. You will be swinging your arms and jumping in your seat as the final crescendo builds (assuming you play it as loud as I do). You will not be able to concentrate on anything else for 10 minutes after it's over. Chills. You will get chills. Sensational.

Munch... not so much.

Some Gold Standards Simply Do Not Tarnish.......2006-06-11

For many lovers of classical music one of the first cherished LPs in the library was the wonder flourished in this 1950s recording of Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3 in C minor, forever known now as the Organ Symphony, as conducted by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Berj Zamkochian as organ soloist. Now with the presence of this SACD Hybrid release the position of this recording remains unchallenged as the one to own. Munch understood the architecture of the symphony and was able to make the most of the organ parts as woven through the orchestral fabric, allowing the mighty climax to have a reason for happening. It is a towering performance of a work that is used more often than any other to unveil new organs in new orchestral halls.

But Munch and his then own Boston Symphony were the top interpreters of the French repertoire and gratefully on this CD we also have the Debussy 'La Mer' and the lighter but effective 'Escales (Ports of Call) by Jacques Ibert. The performances exude the impressionistic perfume Munch knew so well and while there may be weightier and mightier recordings of 'La Mer' available today, Munch's approach is still a valid one. But the reason for adding this CD to your library remains the inimitable Saint-Saens. It is spectacular! Grady Harp, June 06

An experience in Symphony Hall.......2005-06-19

I was a junior in high school and the principal oboist of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra was performing in Symphony Hall on Sunday. It was Saturday afternoon the day before the concert and we rehursed in Sym. Hall all afternoon. After the rehersal was over I remained in my chair and finished a couple of reeds for the next day. Reeds in the hall performed differently than they did at home so there I was whittling away when all of a sudden in walks BSO's Organist, Berg Zamkochian. He came over to me and watched me tweeking a reed and became intrigued. My teacher was Ralph Gomberg, the BSO's principal oboist and I was sitting in his chair. Berg and I carried on a good conversation before he began warming up the Symphony Hall Organ. The program that evening was the Saint-Saëns: Symphony No.3 under Charles Munch. I heard him play all the great organ parts from my seat in the orchestra. It was just he and I in the entire hall. Wow!
I remained there that evening and heard the full concert live.
I do have an LP of the recording and rate it 5 stars.

A great recording! A small correction........2005-01-08

I am happy to second Dan Beck's strong recommendation of this classic recording and the "consummate French" sound of the Boston Symphony in it's former glory. However, I must give proper credit to the great Gino Cioffi, first chair clarinet of the orchestra at the time this recording was made. By the time Harold Wright joined the Boston Symphony in 1970, Charles Munch was already with the angels (Alas!).

Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3; Debussy: La Mer; Ibert: Escales [Hybrid SACD]

Average customer rating:

Good Sound, But Not Much of an Improvement over the CD
"Stereo" yes, "Living", no
Five Star Performance, but the engineers dropped the ball
An Old Favorite in a new container

Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3; Debussy: La Mer; Ibert: Escales [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0002TKFGI
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Tracks:

I. Adagio; Allegro Moderato
Poco Adagio
II. Allegro Moderato; Presto
Maestoso; Allegro
De L'aube A Midi Sur La Mer
Jeux De Vagues
Dialogue Du Vent Et De La Mer
Rome-Palerma: Calme
Tunis-Nefta: Modere Tres Rythme
Valencia: Anime

Customer Reviews:

Good Sound, But Not Much of an Improvement over the CD.......2004-11-05

Unlike the case with some of the Mercury Living Presence SACDs (e.g., Firebird/Dorati), where the improvements over their corresponding CDs is VAST, I'm a bit disappointed by the SACD remastering here. The RCA Living Stereo SACDs are not a great improvement over the corresponding "Living Stereo" CD incarnations, neither in stereo nor in 3 channels. Thus, you needn't bother purchasing the newer versions if you have the former ones. If you have neither version, you can just as well buy the new Hybrid SACDs.
(SACDs compared to CDs using the following equipment: Bel Canto PLayer PL-1 universal player + PRe 6; for front/stereo channels: Bel Canto eVo4G2 amp bridged for stereo + B&W Nautilus 802; for the center channel: Adcom GFA 5503 + B&W HTM2).

"Stereo" yes, "Living", no.......2004-10-11

This release may well be the best CD release of Munch's recording of Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony, but for me the question is: Is it as good or better than the original RCA "Living Stereo" LP issue? The answer here is a resounding no.

I have listened carefully to this disc and the "Shaded Dog" RCA original on and off now for several days. In all respects: tonal clarity, nuance of color, 3-dimenional image, overall presence, I found the LP (a "1S" pressing) to be far superior.

I'm not really happy to report this. I am hoping that the SACD format will offer a way to reproduce the impact of Living Stereo and other great audiophile analog recordings for the mass of listeners in our digital age.

The performance of course is a killer.

(The Escales and La Mer sound curiously flat on my SACD copy. They must be the victim of some technical problem.)

Mark Hite

Five Star Performance, but the engineers dropped the ball.......2004-10-10

It isn't very likely that you've arrived here not knowing that this recording is one of the first of ten legendary RCA Living Stereo titles to be offered in the high-tech SACD format. As with the earlier reviewer below, I have my own personal list of favorites from the RCA catalog that I hope to see in the SACD format one day, but I hope that when that day comes, I will not be as disappointed with the sound on those as I am with this one.

Super Audio CD (SACD) is touted as being a better medium than conventional CD, and this has been demonstrated to me time and again. Given the possibilities, it is important that the engineers who perform the transfers from the original master tapes to a digital format pay even more attention to their work than they have in the past. If they don't, they run the risk of providing consumers with a product that is, in fact, inferior to less capable mediums, and that is certainly the case here. The previously available CD has a less irritating sound to it, and is therefore more satisfying to hear.

I bought four titles from the Living Stereo SACD series at the same time; this one provides the poorest sound. This hasn't always been the case: audiophiles value the sound of the original LP highly. Caveat Emptor to audiophiles.

An Old Favorite in a new container.......2004-09-17

These are some of the RCA Red Seal Classic recordings from their

Living Stereo series remastered for SACD. The Saint-Saens

recording comes from a recently discovered Three Channel master

tape, so on the SACD Surround portion of the disc you hear Left,

Center, and Right channels only. Not 5.1 or 4.0. What you do hear

are Three of Charles Munch's finer recordings with the Boston

Symphony Orchestra. The recordings made in 1956 and 1959, manage

to stand the test of time, and are welcome additions to the SACD

catalog. Especially at Mid Price. Hopefully these Ten SACDs will

be the first of many. One recording I hope will be issued on SACD

is the Berlioz Requiem with Munch, The BSO and Leopold Simoneu.

Also Maestro Munch's recording of the Berlioz Symphonie

Fantastique

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